On the outside Seeking In: Must Intervenors Demonstrate Standing to Join a Lawsuit?

Abstract

The law's traditional conception of a "case" has evolved from a discrete dispute between two adverse parties to a multiparty structure covering a range of related and often conflicting interests.' The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide several avenues for expanding the involved participants in a case beyond a single plaintiff and single defendant to include other affected or interested parties.2 Intervention under Rule 24 is the vehicle nonparties use to protect their interests from potential impairment by a court's adjudication of a dispute between the original parties. By allowing nonparties to intervene, Rule 24 lets them represent their interests and arguably improves the court's decisionmaking by allowing the presentation of different viewpoints and evidence.3 Courts may also benefit from granting mo-